In January, 2016, India’s first River Information System (RIS) was launched by Union Government facilitate safe and accurate inland waterway navigation. It has been launched in phases and the first phase will cover 145-km stretch of National Waterways 1 (Phase I- Haldia to Farakka) on the Ganges River.
Inland Waterway Authority of India (IWAI), a statutory body under the aegis of Union Ministry of Shipping is implementing the RIS in India.
- RIS are combination of modern tracking equipment comprising of hardware and software designed to optimize transport and traffic processes in inland water navigation.
- The system has capability to enhance swift electronic data transfer between mobile vessels and Base stations (on shore) through advance and real-time exchange of information.
- The main aim of the system is to streamline the exchange of information via Very high frequency (VHF) wireless communication between waterway operators and users.
- This system would facilitate: (i) Enhancement of inland navigation safety in ports and rivers. (ii) Better use of the inland waterways. (iii) Environmental protection.
- It enables safe and efficient inland water transport by avoiding risks such as (i) Ship-to-Ship collisions. (ii) Ship-Bridge collisions. (iii) Groundings.
- This system has been successfully implemented and is in operation in countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, China and US.
The RIS system will be later extended upto Varanasi in two more phases and in Phase-II, it will cover stretch from Farakka to Patna (410 Km.)